Twitter has announced it will launch a “super follow” feature, which lets users charge followers for access to exclusive content, later this year according to a report by Verge.
The San Francisco-based company also said its revenue goal for 2023 is more than $7.5bn, more than double its 2020 revenue of $3.7bn. The organization wants to discover more ways to increase their profits for itself and its top users.
In an investor presentation on Thursday, the social media company announced the new feature that will let users charge for extra, exclusive material not shown to their regular followers. This can include subscriber-only newsletters, videos, deals and discounts. Users would pay a monthly subscription fee to access the extra content.
“Why don’t we start with why folks don’t believe in us,” said chief executive Jack Dorsey at the start of Twitter’s virtual presentation. “It comes down to three critiques: we’re slow, we’re not innovative, and we’re not trusted.”
Twitter is creating a lane to compete with other platforms who are strong in the advertising market such as Facebook and Google. Twitter did not detail what percentage of the revenue it would share with celebrities and others who sign up paying subscribers.
“Exploring audience funding opportunities like Super Follows will allow creators and publishers to be directly supported by their audience and will incentivize them to continue creating content that their audience loves,” the company said in a statement.
Super Follows is not available yet but Twitter says it will have “more to share” in the coming months.
Another coming product, “Revue,” will let people publish paid or free newsletters to their audience. There’s also “Twitter Spaces,” a Clubhouse competitor that lets users participate in audio chats. It is currently in private beta testing, which means it’s not yet available to the general Twitter audience.
Check out the reactions below to the news from users of the Twitter platform.
2021: "Twitter now charging for reading Premium Tweets!"
2022: "What's a Twitter?"
😐#RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/eOalxWu0dF— DT2ComicsChat™ (@DT2ComicsChat) February 26, 2021
I love y’all but I ain’t paying to vibe with you #Riptwitter pic.twitter.com/vUBZgJoIHD
— Sean Dro (@SeanDro_) February 25, 2021
me n the fellas lookin at tweets on the r/tweetleaks subreddit while y’all still paying for em #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/I5WySFn5Ca
— 🌊2021 water champ 🌊 (@poppateej) February 26, 2021
Burn it down, all we wanted was a damn edit function!#RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/JBy6i77tMD
— Jay Rider (@1jayrider) February 26, 2021
Im sorry but nobody's tweets are that important for me to pay for them #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/QGEnzft0lM
— WANDAVISION (@Jeesseessee) February 26, 2021
They want us to PAY to read your tweets???#RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/L5EbzQ7Hdv
— tyrone ⚡️⚡️ (@twllvms) February 26, 2021
Sorry, NOT Sorry that #RIPTwitter is just DUMB !! You are not going to be charged to Tweet, you are not going to be charged to follow – You as a poster/Content creator can create EXTRA content for Exclusive access to "SuperFollowers" that pay a Monthly fee to your account !!
— Uncle Scooby (@OwenORourke7) February 26, 2021
So twitter is really becoming an only fans #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/RTzePQujDX
— Sam (@GodlyLuthor) February 26, 2021
People over there looking money for tweets, when I can barely get a like… #RIPTwitter
— sean (@Deery23) February 26, 2021
